Pallets can be used to stack a plurality of vehicle components thereon to transport those components to a desired location. Various vehicle components can be organized in bins and these bins can be stacked on top of a pallet. When the desired number of bins are stacked on the pallets, the bins at the top are open. To cover the bins that are disposed at the top, a lid is disposed over the tops of those bins.
Some lids that cover the top bins can be one single piece. For example, some of these single piece lids can be large, such as having a dimension of about 48 inches by 45 inches, which can be cumbersome to move due to the location of the center of gravity of the lid being quite a distance away from an operator. Furthermore, these one piece lids can be formed by vacuum molding and these vacuum formed lids can deflect outwardly away from the bins during use which can allow the vehicle components in the top bins to undesirably shift and/or allow fluids and/or contaminates to enter the top bins.
When stacking one pallet on top of another lid, some pallets can define a recessed area and the single piece lids can include an outwardly extending boss that cooperates with the recessed area. Therefore, when one pallet is stacked on top of one single piece lid, the boss of that lid is disposed in the recess area of that pallet to position the pallet and the lid relative to each other.
To assist moving these single piece lids, a pair of handles can be attached to the lids. However, these handles are attached with fasteners that create holes in the lids which can allow fluids and/or contaminates to enter the top bins. Alternatively, the handles can be built into the lid by cutting away some of the material of the lid with a cutting tool which creates holes that are handles. The operator can grasp these handle holes to move the lid. These handle holes in the lids can allow fluids and/or contaminates to enter the top bins.
Other lids have been designed as two pieces which are permanently hinged together. Therefore, the lid can fold in half about the hinges but these pieces cannot be separated as individual pieces. Therefore, moving these types of lids can be cumbersome since the operator is still moving one entire lid. Furthermore, these hinged lids can deflect at the hinge outwardly away from the bins during use which can allow the vehicle components in the top bins to undesirably shift and/or allow fluids and/or contaminates to enter the top bins.
To restrain the vehicle components in the top bins relative to the lid, some lids have been designed with an insert that is attached to a bottom side of the lids and the inserts hold the vehicle components in place. Therefore, certain lids with certain inserts are utilized for certain vehicle components so additional costs can be incurred to produce different lids for different purposes. Furthermore, different lids for different vehicle components requires the operator to choose the desired lid for that particular vehicle component which can be time consuming and/or an undesired lid could be chosen. Additionally, lids not being utilized for that particular vehicle component have to be stored which requires storage space. Alternatively, empty top bins can be utilized to hold the vehicle components in place in the below bins but this creates unused space.
To secure the lid relative to the bins, a pair of retractable belts can be utilized on opposing sides of the pallet and a corresponding pair of buckles can be utilized on opposing sides of the lid. One end of the belts are secured to the pallet and the buckles are secured to the lid, and when the belts engage respective buckles, the lid is coupled to the pallet, with the bins restrained therebetween. However, when the lid is secured with the belts and the buckles, opposing forces are applied to the lid which can cause the lid to deflect outwardly away from the bins, for example, at its center. Lid deflection can allow the vehicle components disposed in the top bins to undesirably shift even when utilizing the insert discussed above and/or allow fluids and/or contaminates to enter the top bins.
Other pallets have been designed with a leg coupled to each corner of the pallet to support a shelf stacked on the legs. Each corner of the pallet can define a through-hole. Each leg and the inside of each through-hole can include features that couple the legs to the respective corner of the pallet.